But even back then. Before. He’d watched me. I’d catch him, every now and then. Like he was expecting something from me.
I said, “I will ask you. One more time.”
“Human,” the wolf spat at me.
I brought the crowbar up and rested it on my shoulder. The metal scraped against my ear. The pack bonds were electrified. Mark and Elizabeth. Tanner. Chris and Rico. And Robbie too, his quiet pulse becoming more like a beacon. He was here now. With us. I thought Joe would be proud.
Maybe he’d even tell me that one day.
If he ever came back.
If I ever forgave him.
I said, “What. Is. Your. Name?”
“Come out here,” the wolf said. “Beyond the stickies.” He cocked his head at me, his elongated ears flickering.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said, tired of him. Tired of all of this. “You’re going to give me the girl. Once I see what kind of condition she’s in, I’ll make a decision as to whether you walk away from here or crawl.” I tilted my head, my gaze staying on him. “Or how deep in the ground I bury you.”
The wolves didn’t laugh at that.
I saw two or three of them take a step back. I would spare those ones. If I could.
The wolf in front of me paused. “You,” he said, “are a conundrum. Why is it you are the way you are?”
“Because of my father,” I said, thinking of Thomas.
He watched me for a moment. Then he raised his voice and said, “Bring the girl.”
It couldn’t be that easy.
From the shadows of the interior of the bridge, two figures emerged from the dark. One stuttered with every step it took. The other dragged the first harshly.
Jessie.
She was walking on her own, but I could hear the low hitches of her breath. She was limping, barely putting any weight down on her right foot. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were wet. But her mouth was set in a thin line, her jaw tensed. She was scared, yes, but she was pissed. That was good. Anger was a better motivator than fear. It also probably meant the wolves were underestimating her. Just like they were underestimating me. My pack.
She saw me and her voice was raw when she said, “Ox.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Just look at me. It’ll be okay.”
“It really won’t,” the wolf said as he took Jessie by the arm. She struggled against him, but his grip was iron tight. “Tell me, Ox. Do you think that little crowbar of yours would do anything to prevent me from ripping out her throat right in front of you? Do you think you could stop me before I stop her heart?”
“Another wolf said something like that to me once,” I said quietly. “Before Richard Collins. This wolf held my mother almost the exact way you’re holding her. I bashed his head in. He died a very painful death.”
“History doesn’t repeat itself.”
I shrugged. “It can.”
“Not for your mother,” the wolf said with a nasty smile. “Tell me, Ox. You saved her a first time, why not a second?”
Easy, Thomas whispered.
“What do you want?” I asked, barely containing my rage.
His eyes flared violet. “Simple,” he said. “You. Since your Alpha has… abandoned you all, he will need incentive to come back out of hiding. You will provide that incentive. We will be rewarded. He will put us above all others when we give you and your Alpha to him.”
“And if I don’t?”